Watching You
by Girls In White Dresses
Summary: Everyone wants a "happily ever after." Rose, Edward, Winry. Is there room in the love triangle for one more?
1. Chapter 1

** I'm here again. Envy x Rose is probably the weirdest pairing in FMA I have ever heard of... It took me a long time to write this story, longest I have ever spent on one story... this was originally supposed to be a oneshot, but i kind of got carried away.. Oh well :)**

**Timeline: Anytime before the civil war of Lior, and after Ed and Al's first meeting with Rose (you know, the fake priest, the fake philosopher's stone, the fake promises, etc.) Manga or anime? um, both. Doesn't really matter...**

**Disclaimer: The following is a work of fiction. All recognizable characters belong to a small cow with glasses named Hiromu Arakawa. I will never own FMA, only the plot of this story. :'(**

**Now, on with it! (PLEASE REVIEW)**

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><p>Prince will save the princess, true love will prevail. Everyone will live happily ever after.<p>

Rose stirred the fragrant pot of stew slowly, tucking away the loose strands of her long dark hair. There has been something nagging at her for weeks, a strange sensation, as if someone has been watching her. Flashes of a blurry figure seem to be barely visible out of the corners of her eyes, gone in half a second. Rose can't quite place her finger on it.

"Obsessive gearhead!"

"ALCHEMY FREAK!"

It's really very strange how this world works. Good will always win over evil, but not in the ways the girl named after a flower has ever imagined. The Elric brothers came back to visit her, bringing along a childhood friend.

Winry.

Rose admits that she has always been more of a wallflower than the life of the party. She watches Al try to restrain a wrench wielding, hot tempered Winry.

What is this, jealousy? And yet she always admires those who are so different from her.

Winry has all the things she wishes she could have. Including a "happily ever after". Her gaze once again settles on Ed's smiling face, his golden eyes always so mesmerizing. Rose knows it, and some day he will too.

She has always loved love stories. She used to love happy endings above everything else. Now she despises them, hates them. Just because they are another thing that she desires, but will never have.

_The prince lifted the girl onto his white horse, where they rode to the castle, got married and lived happily ever after!_

Happily ever after.

What a lie.

It belongs in books, other worlds, with other people. Not with her. She regards Edward and Winry, not even noticing that she's staring. "Rose? Is the stew ready?" She tears her gaze away and smiles up at the empty armour which is Ed's younger brother. "…Yup! Hey Winry, Ed! Stew's ready! Come and get it!"

Now that she thinks about it, she has always been rather good at pretending. Good at concealing emotions behind a cheerful façade. That is, after all, what she has been doing all this time, for years. Winry compliments her on her cooking, her beautiful blue eyes flashing merrily. Yes. For Edward, Winry is the light at the end of the tunnel, while Rose is only a rock that juts out in his path. Brilliant blue and dark, murky violet. Winry will never have to pretend.

Rose keeps up with the small talk, smiling, laughing, doing whatever it is to appear as a carefree, happy girl. A girl that she has not been for a very long time. She sees it, the way Ed looks at  
>Winry, and the way Winry looks back. They sit close together, elbows brushing every time they pick up their spoons. The girl watching on the sidelines can endure this.<p>

This is nothing.

She will die alone, as a mere spectator enjoying other people's lives. There will be nothing for herself. What love she has ever felt has always been one sided.

Perhaps she should bring some popcorn next time.

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><p><strong>That little button below is lonely... why don't you click it? ...Pretty please?<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**I apologize for any OOCness in Ed, Al, or Winry. I wasn't quite focused on Ed and Al, and I DON'T understand Winry.**

**Weell, as for Rose, she isn't supposed to be OOC. I wanted to write something saying that there's alot more to her than only being able to cook and... "EDWARD!" **

**I'm assuming Envy is a boy, i guess, rather than genderless. COUGH gender confused palm tree COUGH**

***Salute* Don't forget to review.**

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><p>Time and time again, she has stood no chance against fate. Winry made the leg he stands on and the arm he fights with. Rose has been nothing but a useless burden. The only useful thing she can do now is hide behind forced smiles and fake laughter, putting up walls and disguises. Never worrying them or troubling them. This may be her only talent.<p>

"Rose, do you know if it's possible for me to take a bath? I need one, probably," Winry laughs. Rose looks away, the despair almost overwhelming. But she regains control, as she always does, and leads Winry to her house with much joking and thank you's.

Rose fiddles with the towels, not wanting to leave, while Winry sighs in contentment behind the shower curtain. Winry senses her presence and asks, "So…. How did you get to know Ed and Al?"

She carefully explains about Father Cornello, afraid where this conversation is heading. They do not know that Father Cornello is still here in Lior. They do not know that a civil war is inevitable in this town. They do not know about _him. _It's fine if they never know. Rose swore to herself to get through hardships without Edward this time. "Wow… I'm so sorry. I wonder why he can't be a little nicer… You've done so much; you don't need to repay him!"

Rose fake coughs to buy herself time. "No, he actually helped me so much. So I assume Ed's your boyfriend?" She has said it, or rather, asked it. Winry will never guess the depth of her inner turmoil. "Ummm…." She's blushing, Rose knows it. "…No! We're just friends!" So that's it. Just friends.

Another lie.

Rose walks out on the excuse of getting better towels. She doesn't know why, but she starts to run. Footsteps pounding and vibrating on the ground. Ed and Al come into sight, as they cheerfully wave to her.

Is this her breaking point?

Her hands clench and unclench, wanting to scream and cry at the same time. No; she has promised to herself that she can't cry anymore. Rose stops suddenly and turns around, her back to the Elric brothers. This is how it will be from now on. Nothing to do but watch from a distance as the coward she is.

Nothing to do but wish, and try to collect the pieces of her heart. Even if she finds them all, she will never be able to put them back together.

Rose suddenly catches a sight, a glimpse of piercing violet eyes, lighter in shade than her own. She moves her head from side to side, straining her eyes. There it is again. It's _him. _A figure in darkness-

"Rose, is something wrong?"

Edward Elric stands in front of her, face showing concern. She does not answer and looks past him, searching for those violet eyes. Nothing. A trick of the light?

She sighs, and replies, "Oh, I'm fine! I just came back to get better towels for Winry!" She does her best to plaster on another false smile. Ed studies her for a moment, frowning ever so slightly. If anyone figures out her pretend game, it will be him. The perceptiveness he has is often unnerving.

The strange sensation sends shivers down her back, once again. What is it? Someone is watching her. Rose tears her eyes away from Edward's warm golden ones and looks past his shoulder. Cold, clear eyes of unnatural violet lock with her own and pierce through every fibre of her being. Spiky dark green hair cascades down his shoulders, stark against pale white cheeks. She's felt this sensation, his presence many times in the past. Whenever she searched, he would disappear, leaving her doubting her own sanity.

But now he looks calmly back at her, an odd, little half-smile upon his face, nothing but a slight curving of the lips, and his eyes-

They drill holes through her, challenging, freezing cold, seeming to laugh her very existence.

This is how it will be from now on. He will always be there, a smudge on a camera lens. You may think that she, a gentle loving girl, has absolutely nothing in common with _him. _Yet they will always be pretending, her cruel, placid nature hidden behind emotions and insecurities while his insecurities and emotions are hidden behind a cruel, placid nature.

Once upon a time there was a girl called Rose. For as long as she is a part of this world, she will simply watch. Watch everyone, and above all, watch the person who watches her. With silent words, silent glances, silent understanding. The angel, the devil, sometimes both. Their story is not a sad one, but it will never end with "happily ever after". It doesn't need to.

Your story _will_, though, and when it does, they…the sun, the moon, or the heavens and the earth- two opposite entities that somehow go together, being side by side until the end of time. They will be

Watching you.


End file.
